SEPA Money Transfers | Western Union FR (2024)

FAQs

Why do SEPA transfers take so long? ›

SEPA Instant Credit Transfer Timeframe

Factors such as cut off times, bank holidays and currency conversion can slow down processing. Selecting suitable transfer types with participating banks should ensure everything is expedited quickly.

One of the most common reasons why a SEPA Direct Debit is rejected is insufficient funds in the customer's account. If there are insufficient funds for the SEPA Direct Debit, the recipient will not receive payment and a Direct Debit return will be received.

A SEPA transfer is usually free of charge with an execution time of one working day, whether you send a domestic transfer or a cross-border transfer to any SEPA country. A non-SEPA international transfer takes longer, 4 to 5 working days on average.

Standard SEPA transfers

Within the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), standard transfers are typically completed within 24 to 48 business hours.

In terms of the transfer process itself, SEPA payments happen much quicker than SWIFT transfers. A regular SEPA payment may take up to two days to arrive, however a new scheme known as SEPA Instant Payment or SCT Inst is able to process transfers within 10 seconds.

How Long Does a SEPA Bank Transfer Take? SEPA Credit Transfers take one business day to be processed and settled, so if you transferred money to any other SEPA country, it should arrive in the recipient's bank account in one day.

Unfortunately, once you as the payer have verified an outgoing transfer it is not easy to cancel it and return the funds to your account. This is only possible if the funds have not yet been credited to the recipient's account.

SEPA Credit Transfers have a maximum transfer limit of €999,999,999.99 (i.e. one cent short of one billion euros). SEPA Instant Credit Transfers allow you to send up to €100,000 at a time.

Why are my transfers being rejected? ›

This could happen for a several reasons, including inaccurate information, suspicious account activity, or insufficient funds. What happens to a rejected wire transfer? If the bank rejects the transfer, it will return the funds to your account — generally within a couple of days.

Under SEPA, all bank accounts must be identified by an International Bank Account Number (IBAN) and a Bank Identifier Code (BIC). To make a payment, the International Bank Account Number (IBAN) must be used. The Bank Identifier Code (BIC) is optional.

SEPA payments offer a secure method of transferring euros between banks within the SEPA region. Both sender and recipient must have SEPA accounts within SEPA countries, and the currency transferred must be in euros.

Although SEPA transfers are generally free, some institutions may levy a fee. However, the majority of the costs are incurred by currency conversion from non-euro European countries, which can be rather costly. Regulators are working hard to reduce conversion cost through further standardisation.

Withdrawals typically take 1-3 business days to complete.

One of the main reasons for delays to international wire transfers are the fraud prevention processes and procedures put in place by banks. The SWIFT network requires transfers to pass through up to three correspondent banks before arriving at their destination.

The banks want to be sure the money is really there and available before it lets the receiver use the money – this is why they don't make the funds available immediately. It takes even longer when you are making a deposit to one of your accounts.

Occasionally, there are delays. If the bank sending the funds makes a mistake, a wire transfer may take longer than expected. Holidays can also disrupt wire transfers. Prepare for delays if you're receiving money from a slow-to-pay country such as Afghanistan or Cuba.